Fighting your Demons
by beccaA
Summary: AU Fic. Buffy is a detective recently transfered to New York.  Faith is a member of a ruthless criminal gang.  When destiny brings them together will their love survive the odds? BF Pairing.
1. Beginnings

**Author's note: This story is separate from my other fics. I decided to do something different for a change and being a fan of AU fics I thought I would try one. I've had this idea in my head for a while and I decided to get it out before someone else beat me to it lol. Hope you guys like this and I promise it will get better as it goes on.**

**WARNING: This will be a dark fic, with scenes of violence, swearing and fem slash, so if you don't like don't read :-) Just thought I should warn you.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own the characters of Buffy and Faith, they belong to Joss, I just decided to borrow them for a while.**

**Fighting your Demons**

**Chapter 1 - Beginnings**

Buffy cursed for the hundredth time as her car stubbornly refused to start, what with the snow outside and the fact that her car was a piece of shit, it was no wonder it had died on her. Once again she wondered why she had accepted the transfer to New York. After all she'd been happy working at the police department in Los Angeles, that was where her friends where, that was where the sun was, and that was where she wanted to be at this very moment in time.

Groaning in frustration she slammed her hand against the steering wheel, before slumping back in her seat. She risked a quick glance at her watch, hoping that by some miracle time was moving backwards, but nope she was still late for work, again. "Just fucking great!" she cursed. She knew her partner would tease her mercilessly for this, as he had done the last three hundred times she'd been late.

Cursing her car, the snow and the world in general she grabbed her bag and climbed out of the car. Clutching her coat tight around her she slammed her car door behind her, not bothering to lock it, after all it wasn't as if any carjackers would be able to go anywhere in the heap of crap. Casting one last glare at her car she trudged off down the street praying that someone up there loved her enough to send a cab her way.

**Meanwhile 12th Avenue - Apartment 210**

The young man screamed in agony as the blade embedded in his thigh was giving a vicious twist, he strained desperately against the ropes binding him to the chair but no matter how much he fought he couldn't loosen them. The brunette kneeling in front of him watched impassively as his blood began to pool on the hardwood floor at his feet.

"I ain't gonna ask you again Ricardo, where's the money?" she asked, her dark gaze drifting up to study his sweat soaked face intently.

Ricardo gasped and forced his eyes open, staring at the young woman in front of him. "I told you, I don't have the money." he gasped, his eyes widening in agony as the woman grabbed the dagger and leaned all of her weight on it as she moved in closer to him.

"You know there's two things I can't stand, men that lie, and men that fuck over my family." she whispered, her lips mere inches from his ear. "Now if you're a good little boy I'll make sure you can have an open casket funeral." she said, "If not well lets just say the coroner will need more than dental records to identify your body, and you'll be alive long enough to experience every second."

"O-Okay, the money's under the floorboards in t-the spare room." he stammered.

"What about your stash?" she asked leaning back to look in his eyes.

"I-It's in there as well." he said.

The woman turned to the man behind her, "Ritchie?"

"I'm on it." he said, before he turned and left the room. The woman turned her attention full attention back to Ricardo.

"Okay, I've got one last question for ya, and then we'll leave you in peace." she said. "Who paid you to screw us over?" she asked.

Ricardo gulped, "I-It was the O'Rielly's." he stammered. "They paid me to pedal some new stuff t-they got shipped in f-from Columbia. I needed the money I wouldn't have done it otherwise."

The woman turned round as Ritchie re-entered the room with a large black holdall. "He was tellin the truth." he said.

"Well Ricardo, looks like we've got what we came for." she said grinning she stood in front of him and removed the gun from the waistband of her jeans. "Thanks for your cooperation." she said raising the gun she aimed it at his forehead.

"No please wai-" His words where cut off by the sound of the gunshot reverberating round the small apartment, followed by his body falling forward in the chair. The woman sighed and turned to the man beside her. "Well that was fun, you wanna get a coffee?" she asked, causing the man to laugh.

"Hell Faith, we'll have to clean up first." he said, gesturing at his sisters blood splattered clothes. "Not to mention the fact we've got a bag full of blow and at least twenty thousand dollars in cash. We might as well hang a sign round our necks sayin arrest me."

Faith sighed, "Well if you're gonna be a baby about it I suppose we could drop this stuff of at Johnny's first. Give us a chance to clean up and catch up. Besides I suppose we better tell him that the O'Rielly's are back in town." she said grimly, tucking her gun in her back pocket.

"Shit that ain't gonna go down too well." he commented.

Faith looked at him incredulously, as she pulled on her leather jacket, silently thankful that she'd chosen to wear her black jeans and not her leather trousers. "Ya think! Man he's gonna go apeshit. We've had enough trouble trying to keep a hold of our dealers without having the O'Rielly's as competition. Fuck I'm glad you're the one that's breaking the news to him and not me." she exclaimed.

"What! Hell no you're tellin him!" He exclaimed.

"Nuh uh." Faith said shaking her head vehemently.

"Uh huh, you're the one that got the info out of old Ricardo over there." Ritchie said.

"Okay fine, I'll race you downstairs to the car. Whoever loses has to break the bad news to Johnny _and _buy the coffees for the rest of the guys." she said, raising a challenging eyebrow in his direction.

Ritchie looked at her thoughtfully. "Okay sounds fair to me." he said.

Faith grinned and opened the door to the apartment. "Alright, on the count of three……THREE!" she yelled sprinting out of the apartment and down the stairs before Ritchie even knew what had happened.

"What the fuck! You know cheating ain't fair!" he exclaimed, he made sure he closed the door to the apartment behind him before he ran after his sister.

**New York Police Department**

The yellow cab screamed to a stop outside of the NYPD precinct. Buffy threw a handful of cash at the driver before throwing the door open. "Hey lady you've gave me too much here." the driver exclaimed.

Buffy looked back at him, not slowing her pace as she ran up the steps, "Doesn't matter just keep the change." she yelled before she headed inside the building. The driver shrugged and pocketed the twenty dollars change before pulling away.

Buffy arrived at the chiefs office and quickly peaked in the window, she saw that her partner was already there and that the briefing had started. Which was really no surprise. Opening the door she attempted to sneak in unnoticed which was hard to do in a small office full of four people.

"Summers nice of you to show." Chief Marsden commented looking up at the clock on the wall. "Only half an hour late today well done."

Buffy blushed and made for a chair at the back of the room. "Sorry chief." she mumbled, ignoring the smirk on her partners face as she grabbed the seat next to him.

"Anyway as I was sayin Ricardo D'Tora is a well known drug dealer, he normally operates from an apartment down on 12th avenue." he explained, pointing to a picture of a clean shaven young man. "For all intents and purposes he looks like the guy next door. Don't let this fool ya, he's likely to be armed and should be approached with caution. As you know we've been tailing this guy for months, and we know that he's been fraternising with members of the Lehane family. The problem is he's been getting antsy and he's beginning to know that something's up, we need to bring him in now before he can run and hide behind his gangland friends. Summers and Finn, you two are going to go pay this guy a visit at his apartment, while Anderson and Carmichael go to his work just encase the little runt decided to show up. If there's any trouble don't hesitate to radio for back up." he said. "Does anyone have any questions?" he asked looking at the small group before him, his gaze coming to rest on Buffy.

"No sir." They all replied, before getting up and leaving the office.

Buffy had nearly made it out the door, when she hard the chief calling to her, "Summers, you better not be late again you hear me." he said.

"Yes sir." she said, smiling apologetically. She left the office and turned to see her partner grinning knowingly at her. "Don't start Riley, I've had to walk four blocks in the freezing snow because my car died on me and I swear to God if you say anything to piss me off I'll shoot you." Buffy snapped.

Riley held up his hands in self defence and smiled at his partner, "Whoa, no need for violence, I would never do anything to piss you off you know me." he said grinning at the scowl that fell across his partners face. He threw a friendly arm around her shoulder and led her down the stairs towards the main doors to the precinct. "Listen how about you take your aggression out on this drug pusher, and then I'll take you out for a coffee to warm you up. Deal?" he asked.

Buffy grudgingly agreed. "Deal, but you better make it a double latte." she mumbled, allowing him to lead her to their waiting car.

**TBC.**

**A/N: Please be honest and let me know what you think, if you guys liked it I'll carry on writing**.


	2. Coffee's on me!

**Author's note: Wow thanks for the reviews, I've decided to continue this fic seeing as you guys like it, hope I don't disappoint :-)**

**Disclaimer: I don't own the characters of Buffy and Faith, they belong to Joss.**

**Chapter 2 - Coffee's on me!**

**12th Avenue - 12:35pm**

Buffy stepped out of the car and slammed the door behind her, staring up at the dingy apartment block before her she couldn't help but grimace. The stench of garbage and stale urine permeated the air, and from what Buffy could tell it was coming from inside the apartment block.

"Today just gets better and better." she mumbled, glancing to her left she saw a group of scrawny kids watching them suspiciously from the alley opposite. It was obvious from the look of the neighbourhood that this was one of the poorer areas and sadly cops where a regular occurrence around here, and from the looks on the kids faces they weren't welcome. "Hey Riley, will it be alright to leave the car out here?" she asked as her partner caught up with her.

Riley looked at her as if she was stupid, "Hell no, but It's not my car, it's the departments so see if I care." he said smiling. "Besides we sure weren't going to walk over here now were we."

Buffy shrugged. "You're right." she said following him into the building. "As always." she mumbled quietly. As soon as she stepped over the threshold she felt her stomach rebel against her as the smell grew stronger, wondering once again how on earth people could live like this. Unsurprisingly the lift was out of order which meant they had to take the stairs. "What floor does this guy live on?" Buffy asked curiously.

"Think it's the fifth." Riley said, dodging an abandoned food cart that lay abandoned on the landing.

"Figures." Buffy mumbled. "How come we never have to bust anyone that lives on the ground floor?"

Riley shrugged, "Cause that would be too easy. Besides think of the exercise." he said.

Buffy glared at the back of his head. "Is that supposed to be funny! I've had enough exercise this morning cause of my stupid car."

Riley laughed, "I can't believe you drove that piece of crap all the way from LA to here, no wondered it died on you." he exclaimed.

"Yeah well at the moment it's all I have, or had. I can't afford another car, I can barely afford to keep my apartment." she said sighing heavily. "I could afford it when Kennedy was living with me but after we broke up and she moved out I've been finding it hard."

"You'll land on your feet eventually." Riley said. "Besides at least be thankful you're not living like these guys." he said looking around at his surroundings.

"Yeah." she said sadly. "At least that's one thing to be happy about."

Riley glanced back at her as he continued walking up the stairs. "Hey enough of the moping, you've had a rough couple of months but you came through it okay. Now you've got to start looking towards the future."

Buffy sighed. "I know, believe me I'm trying, but it's not easy when you come home and have to sleep in the room where the person you loved cheated on you with some skank from Barney's." she spat.

He smiled at her reassuringly. "Don't worry, your Mrs Right is out there and hopefully she's rich enough to set you up for life."

**Meanwhile - SecuriKorp Security Company - 12:40pm**

"WHAT THE FUCK!!!" Faith winced as she heard her boss screaming from inside his office, She heard a crashing sound followed by more cursing, and assumed that Johnny had just thrown the expensive vase on his desk. She silently thanked every God there was that it was Ritchie in there and not her. "FAITH GET YOUR ASS IN HERE!!" Johnny yelled.

Faith cast a glare up to the ceiling cursing the big man upstairs under her breath. Pulling herself up straight she hesitantly opened the door to her cousin's office and entered, quickly ducking as she saw the glass paper weight that used to take pride of place on his desk, heading straight for her head.

"Hey you wanna watch it!" she exclaimed looking behind her at the fist sized hole the paper weight had made in the door, where her head had previously been.

Johnny stared at her incredulously, "This is my fuckin office an I can throw what I like at who I like!" he exclaimed. "What's this shit your brother's been tellin me about the O'Rielly's?" he asked.

Faith sighed and looked over at Ritchie who was standing anxiously in the corner. "It's true, Ricardo said they'd paid him to sell a new shipload of stuff they'd got from Columbia. They paid him a shitload of money to switch sides." she explained.

"I don't care about fuckin Ricardo!" Johnny spat, "I want to know what the fuck the O'Rielly's think they're up to! They steal our business in Boston, we come here to start a new life, and they're back sticking their fuckin noses in where they don't belong." he exclaimed, slamming his hand against the table. "I've got two crates of crack cocaine coming in on the carpool ferry tomorrow morning, I want you two to make sure it reaches our contacts in China town." he said. "Let's just say that if it doesn't the Yakuza will be using you two for target practice, understood. And if any of those O'Rielly fuckers even attempt to take this deal away from me I will personally track each and every one of them down and blow their fucking heads off." He turned and went over to the holdall that was sitting on his desk. Unzipping it he pulled out a packet of white powder and a wad of cash, throwing them both to Faith. "Here, take this as payment for whacking Ricardo." He said. "And go get yourselves cleaned up, we can't have you two walking around covered in blood in broad daylight, it looks suspicious."

"Thanks Johnny." Faith said, tossing the money to Ritchie while she pocketed the drugs.

He sighed and ran his hand through his hair, "Don't mention it, listen neither of you go too far, I might need your help with a job later." He said.

"No problem." Ritchie said.

"Good, now both of you get outta my sight while I clean up this freakin mess." Johnny ordered.

As soon as Ritchie closed the door to the office Faith turned to him and groaned, "Paid in fucking dope again." She grumbled, "Not that I'm complainin but it don't exactly pay the bills." she exclaimed.

Ritchie pulled the wad of cash from his pocket and quickly flipped through it. "Well I dunno, there's about five thousand here." he said, stuffing the cash in his pocket as he followed his sister down the corridor.

"Yeah, well I remember when we used to get paid twice that for whackin a pusher." Faith stated, pressing the button for the elevator, and turning to face her brother. "Plus it's gonna cost us in the long run, Ricardo used to rake in bout ten grand a week and you know we're gonna be the ones that suffer for whackin him." She explained, "Thank fuck Johnny was too pissed about the O'Rielly's to realise that we killed his best pusher."

Ritchie put his hand on Faith's shoulder as they entered the elevator, "Would you relax you worry too much, Johnny will find another dealer to take his place, they're a dime a dozen in this city." he said reassuringly, "And at the end of the day Johnny's family, he values us over the other the other fuckers that suck up to him. He knows he can trust us, plus we've got skills those other wannabies can only dream of." he stated happily.

"Mad skills" Faith said grinning in agreement.

**12th Avenue - 13:00pm**

Buffy finally reached the fifth floor and turned to look back down the stairs for her partner, who had began to flag somewhere around the third floor. She caught a glimpse of his blonde hair as he struggled onto the landing below her.

"C'mon Riley almost there." she said grinning mischievously. "Do you want me to throw you a rope, so I can drag you the next three feet?" she asked, laughing as Riley could only retaliate by flipping the bird. "I'll take that as a no." Turning back to the corridor before her she began to look for apartment 210, which she found was situated right at the end of the corridor.

She waited for her partner to catch up to her before knocking on the door. Not surprisingly there was no answer. Buffy pounded on the door again, giving the occupant one last chance to answer. "Guess he's not there." Buffy said shrugging hopelessly.

Riley shook his head, "Fuck this, I didn't drag myself up five flights of stairs for nothing. Lets see if there's a spare key or something." he said, looking around the doorway for any possible hiding places.

Buffy looked at him in amusement, "Seeing as he doesn't have a door mat I'd say he has no spare key. Hell why don't you just be more obvious and try the door-" Riley did as she said and they both stared in surprise as the door easily opened. "-I really didn't think that would work, but yey me." she said.

Their surprise was quickly replaced with caution and they both removed their guns, as they hesitantly entered the apartment. Riley nudged the door open with his foot and entered first, Buffy following closely behind.

As soon as they entered the apartment the smell of blood hit them like a ton of bricks. Riley motioned for Buffy to check the bedroom while he carried on towards the living room. Riley cautiously stepped into what passed as the living room, and came to a halt as he saw the bloody remains of Ricardo D'Tora slumped in the chair in the middle of the room. "Looks like I've found the source of the smell." he murmured, stepping closer to the body.

"Riley, there's some floor boards torn up in the bed-" Buffy's voice trailed off as she entered the living room and saw the body. "Jesus!" she exclaimed. "Looks like we've found our man." she said stepping closer to the body, being careful not to touch anything that could be used as evidence.

"What's left of him anyway." Riley said, gesturing to the brains decorating the wall behind the body. "Looks like a gangland execution, no doubt he did something to piss someone off, probably the Lehane's." he said.

"Judging by the floor boards that where ripped up in the bedroom whoever it was got what they where came for." Buffy said, she frowned as she felt her boot crunch against something on the floor, kneeling down she smiled as she saw what it was, "Looks like our gangster friends forgot to take their bullet." she said smiling over at Riley.

"Nice of them to leave us a present." Riley said, "Once we get the ballistics back we'll know everything we need to know about who's responsible, hell they couldn't have made it easier if they'd left us their name and number."

Buffy grinned "Well they've got to give us something to do, otherwise we'd just get paid to drink coffee. C'mon we'd better radio this in, do you want to break the news to the chief or will I?" she asked.

"You do it, I'm buying you coffee remember." he said, "Besides you've got good people skills, you make breaking bad news seem like a party."

Buffy frowned not sure to take it as a compliment or an insult, "Thanks, I think." she said leaving the apartment she ran down the stairs to radio back to the station.

**Espresso - Coffee House - 15:30pm**

Faith carefully balanced the coffee's in one hand while she handed her cash over to the cashier with the other. Ritchie had decided to wait out in the car, as they decided to take their coffee's to go, wanting to stop off at their club before they met up with Johnny. Her and Ritchie owned and ran the Cobra club down in the red light district. It was the only source of income they had that didn't involve Johnny and the rest of the family, and Faith was determined to make a go of it, especially after the way things where heading at the moment, what with Johnny paying them peanuts and the O'Rielly's cutting in on the action. Flashing the cashier a charming smile Faith turned to leave the coffee house when someone bumped into her, sending hot coffee all over her clean clothes, and cherished leather jacket. Faith was about to tear the fucker that was responsible a new hole, when she looked up and saw that the culprit was the shell shocked blonde before her.

"Oh my God I am so sorry!" The blonde exclaimed.

Faith smiled gently, feeling the need to put the blonde at ease. "It's okay really, no damage done." she said.

"No it's not okay, I'm such a klutz." The blonde said, grabbing some napkins from the dispenser beside her and holding them out to Faith.

"Thanks." Faith said, mopping the coffee from the front of her jacket.

"At least let me give you some money to get another coffee." The blonde said, reaching into her bag for her purse. Faith put a restraining hand on her arm stopping her.

"No really it's okay I'm tryin to cut back anyway." Faith said grinning, before the blonde could reply Faith's cell phone rang, "Excuse me a sec." she said, pulling the cell from her jacket pocket she cringed when she saw it was Johnny, flipping the cell open she held it up to her ear, "Yup, what do you want?" she asked.

// Steve and Ritchie need your skills down at the safe house // Johnny said. //We got one of the O'Rielly fuckers and we need you to make him sing like a bird.//

Faith sighed, "Okay I'll be there in ten minutes." she said.

// Make it five // Johnny ordered, before leaving her to listen to the dial tone.

"Goodbye to you too ya dick." she mumbled under her breath, before putting her cell back in her pocket and turning to face the blonde before her. "Listen I gotta go, duty calls, but it was nice meeting ya." she said smiling apologetically.

"Same here and I'm sorry about your jacket." The blonde said.

"Hey no problem, but next time we bump into each other the coffee's on you." Faith said grinning, she winked at the blonde before rushing out of the coffee shop.

Buffy's gaze followed the mysterious brunette as she left the coffee shop, her eyes subconsciously staring at the woman's ass as she swaggered across the car park before disappearing into the large black jeep parked in the corner. As soon as the jeep peeled out of the car park, the spell was broken, smiling happily at her brief and slightly embarrassing encounter with the sexy brunette, she sauntered over to her partner who was sitting shell shocked at their table.

"What?" Buffy asked defensively, as she sat opposite him.

"Do you know who that was?" he asked incredulously.

Buffy frowned at him as he handed him his coffee. "No, should I?" she asked.

"Well if you've been working on the same case as I have for the past three weeks, then yeah you should." he exclaimed, taking a sip of his coffee before continuing. "That was Faith Lehane." he stated, Buffy continued to stare at him in confusion. "You know of the Lehane family. Only one of the biggest and most powerful criminal gangs this side of America." he explained.

"I know who the Lehane family are I'm not stupid." she said glaring at him from across the table. "She just didn't look like a gangster, she seemed nice." she commented, before grinning over at Riley, "Not to mention cute."

"Hey, now I know you've got a thing for brunettes but that woman is a psycho, trust me, you where lucky she didn't blow your brains out for spilling coffee all over her jacket." Riley said. "I heard she's killed people for less." he said.

"What can I say I may be a klutz but I have great people skills." Buffy said grinning mischievously.

Riley just stared at her impassively, "I mean it Buffy you don't want to get involved with her, you'll only get hurt." he said seriously.

"I talked to her for all of ten seconds, she's hardly going to remember me and besides, I'm probably not her type." Buffy said off handily. "So your worrying about nothing." she said, her words having the desired effect on Riley as he went back to drinking his coffee. But no matter how much Buffy tried, her thoughts kept going back to her encounter with the infamous Faith Lehane. She rubbed her arm absently as she remembered the tingles she had gotten from Faith's hand on her arm. She found herself hoping that she would bump into the brunette again, although this time it would be under less embarrassing circumstances.

**Tbc.**

**A/N: There you have it peeps, feel free to let me know what you think, criticisms welcome. Just so you know I'm not obsessed with coffee :-)**

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	3. Deja Vu!

**Author's note: Thanks again for all the reviews, I try and update as often as I can but I'm juggling two fics at the moment and writers block normally sets in around now lol. But I'll do my best :-) For anyone keeping track of the time this is still the same day as chapter one. Any street names or places in this fic are made up cause I'm not from N.Y I'm from Scotland so it's all Greek to me lol, but I'm going to try and research stuff when I get more time I promise. **

**Disclaimer: I don't own the characters of Faith and Buffy, they belong to Joss.**

**Chapter 3 - Déjà vu?**

**Lehane safe house - Lower East side -16:00pm**

Mike O'Rielly sat tied to a chair in the middle of the bare living room of the safe house. Faith was currently knelt beside him on a large plastic sheet designed to prevent any blood from staining the carpet. Absentmindedly twirling the hammer in her right hand she stared at the broken discoloured foot before her.

"Now which little piggy went to market?" She asked, looking intently at the foot before her. "Hell you've only got two little piggy's left that ain't crippled, so it's gotta be this one!" she exclaimed, crushing Mike's toe with the hammer. Faith stared at the mangled foot in confusion while Mike screamed in agony. "Shit, that was the little piggy that had roast beef." she said sadly, "Man!, can't believe I fucked up a simple nursery rhyme, Mike do ya know what this means?" she asked looking up at the man tethered to the chair before her. "It means I'm gonna have to say it again, to make sure I get it right." she said calmly removing his boot and sock from his other foot.

"No! No! please!" he pleaded, desperately trying to get away from the woman before him.

"It's nice to see you've got some manners, nearly makes up for your lack of personal hygiene." she said grimacing as she threw his sock across the room. "You better have clean underwear on Mikey boy, I mean you never know when your gonna get hit by a bus, or tortured to death, it pays to be prepared. You don't want the guys down at the morgue laughing at ya." she said conversationally. "Now, is there anything you wanna tell me before me an MC Hammer here start banging away?" she asked, grabbing his foot with one hand and raising the hammer in the other. "Cause once I start, there's no going back."

Mike nodded and took a deep breath, "You're family's finished in this city." he spat.

"Is that so." Faith said thoughtfully.

Mike gave her a bloody smile, "We took Boston from you, New York will be a pushover." he stated.

Faith grinned turned to face the men that where standing in the shadows behind her, "You hear that Johnny?" she asked. "Little shit thinks they can take us down."

Her cousin stepped out of the shadows and approached them, staring at Mike in disdain. "What makes you so sure?" he asked. Mike stared at him defiantly, refusing to answer. Faith pulled her knife from her waistband and stabbed it through his foot, pinning it to the ground, causing Mike cry out in pain.

"Answer the man Mike." she said firmly. Seeing that he was still stubbornly refusing to talk, she pulled out her gun and shot out his knee cap, his scream of agony was quickly cut short as Faith pressed the barrel of her gun against the crotch of his pants. "If you don't start talking soon, I'll blow your fucking balls off."

"A-Anthony wants war." He stammered, tears of pain streaming down his cheeks. When he refused to elaborate Faith twisted the knife in his foot, feeling the bones crunching in protest. "FUCK! H-He wants all Lehane's dead, so that t-there's no one to challenge our family." he stammered. "H-He's starting small by buyin over all your dealers, t-then he's goin for your contacts. He won't stop till you're finished."

"Give us Anthony's address." Faith demanded, pressing her gun hard into his crotch, making him think twice about lying.

"He spends most of his time in a condo out in the hills." he explained, "Near sunset ridge, don't know the address, h-honest."

Johnny glared at him, "You better be telling the fuckin truth, what about this shipment of drugs from Columbia? Where's it bein stored?"

"D-Down in warehouse 10C near the docks." Mike said, "H-Half of it's been pedalled, but the rests getting sent t-to Boston."

"When?" Faith asked.

"Couple of days." he replied. "That's all I know."

Faith looked at Johnny expectantly, silently asking if that was everything. He nodded and turned and left the room, raising her gun Faith pulled the trigger, quickly ending Mike's misery and leaving them one less O'Rielly to worry about.

**155 Riverside Drive - Apartment 10C- 18:45pm**

Buffy trudged into her apartment and threw her keys on the side table by the door, before kicking the front door closed behind her. She had the day from hell and all she wanted was to sit on the sofa with a glass of wine and watch some fluffy movie. The ballistics report from the bullet had showed that the murder weapon was a regular semi-automatic hand gun, with ordinary regular 9mm bullets, and surprise surprise the gun didn't have a registered owner. Forensics had turned up nothing, no fingerprints, no stray hairs not even a piece of fluff. So with no witnesses and no forensic evidence, the chief had just chalked the murder up as a bog standard gangland killing and filed it away with the rest of them. Needless to say Buffy was pissed, they'd been trying to get a lead on the gang that had been committing these murders for the past two months, everyone had the feeling that it was the Lehane's however Buffy wasn't so sure, and it had nothing to do with her brief encounter with the brunette she'd bumped into earlier.

Walking into the living room she threw her coat on the sofa, before going to check her answer machine, two new messages. The first was her landlord reminding her that her rent was due in three days, like she could forget that, and the second was her best friend, asking her to give her a call when she got in. Buffy sighed and looked at the clock, she knew that Willow would want her to come out for a few drinks, and that was the last thing she felt like doing at the moment. However she knew how persuasive her best friend could be, and given the fact that she hadn't seen her for a while she decided to give her a call.

Picking up the cordless phone she hit dialled Willows number, and walked into the kitchen to fix something to eat. Opening her fridge, she groaned as she realised that she'd forgot to go shopping. "Just great, could today get any worse." she mumbled slamming the fridge door in frustration.

Buffy jumped as the person on the other end of the phone finally answered. // Hello?//

"Hey Willow long time no speak." she said, smiling as she heard her best friends voice.

// Buffy, hey. How are you// Willow asked excitedly.

"I'm fine, you know all things considered, still managing to pay the rent." Buffy said, grabbing a tin of soup from the cupboard and looking at it in disdain as she realised that it was two months out of date.

// I was wondering if you wanted to come out for a few drinks with me and some of the girls. // Willow asked.

"Depends you aren't going to hook me up with another one of your work colleagues are you?" Buffy asked warily. "Cause you know what happened last time." Her best friend was a consultant at one of New Yorks leading hospitals, she'd decided to set Buffy up on a blind date, with one of the hospital staff. When Buffy first found out she was all for it, hoping it would be at least another doctor or even a cute nurse. But it turned out to be a morgue attendant called Mavis, who looked as if she should be in a morgue, not working in one, not to mention that she was old enough to be her mother. Her friend had really been scraping the barrel that day and ever since Buffy had been wary about having her friend organising her love life.

// No and you still haven't forgiven me for that have you. // Willow exclaimed. // It's just going to be a few innocent drinks, it'll give us a chance to catch up. //

"Sounds harmless enough, Whose going to be there?" Buffy asked curiously.

//There'll be me, Tara, Charlotte and her flatmate Cassandra, and you if you decide to come.//

"Okay count me in." Buffy said, "But I won't be out late tonight, I've got an early start tomorrow."

// Cool, just come round to my place around eight, it'll give us a chance to have a couple of drinks before we head out at nine. // Willow said.

"Okay, I'll see you then." Buffy said, saying her goodbyes she hung up the phone, and tossed it onto the worktop. Looking back up at the clock she saw that she had less than an hour to get ready, and seeing as she was currently car less, she had the choice of hiking to Willow's or getting a cab. Deciding to go for the latter, she rushed through to the bedroom, hoping to God that she could find something decent to wear. With laundry day fast approaching and two bags of washing building up in the corner of her room, the odds where pretty slim.

** Masquerade, Nightclub** - **21:30pm**

The group of giggling women made their way into the nightclub, for the first time in ages Buffy was enjoying herself. She'd enjoyed the chance to catch up with her friends and had the odd glass of wine while watching Willow and the others getting merrier. Knowing that she had work the next day made Buffy revert to soft drinks, it was bad enough having to put up with Riley on a good day, without having to deal with the hangover from hell.

As she scanned the club for a table she felt her stomach drop and her good mood quickly evaporate, as she saw Kennedy dancing with Harmony on the dance floor. She'd known it was a bad idea to come out tonight. "Listen Willow I think I'm just gonna head home." she said.

"But Buffy we've just got here, at least stay for a couple of drinks, please." Willow pleaded, however when she followed Buffy's gaze she saw the reason for her friends sudden change of mood. "Don't let that bitch get to you, stay with us and show her that you're over her." she said firmly.

"But I'm not." Buffy said sadly.

"You can't let her run your life Buffy, especially when she's not in it." Willow said gently.

Buffy smiled, "I know you're right, and I will make her see what she's missing out on, just not tonight. I've had a long day and I'm not ready to face a battle of wills with my ex." she said.

"Understood." Willow said, pulling her friend into a hug. "Give me a call tomorrow, we need to meet up more often." she said pulling back and staring at her friend intently.

"I will, I promise." Buffy said, seeing the doubt flash across Willow's face. Turning to leave she began to pick her way through the crowd, moving in the general direction of the door. The door was almost in sight when she bumped into someone, coming from the bar. Buffy turned ten shades of red and nearly died when she saw who it was.

"You've gotta be fuckin kiddin me!" Faith moaned, looking down at her top which was now soaked in beer. Looking up she was surprised to see the blonde from the coffee shop. "I should've known it would be you." she said.

"Oh God I'm sorry, again." Buffy said, "Honestly this isn't a regular thing for me." she said.

"Really? Cause I'm startin to think about investin in waterproof clothing." Faith exclaimed, plucking at her damp top. Looking back up at Buffy she saw the anxious look on her face, and felt the need to reassure her, "Look don't worry about it I've been covered in worse today." she said smiling gently. "This is only my fifth outfit change. The names Faith by the way." she said.

"Buffy, and I'm usually not as clumsy as this." she said, "Despite the fact that both times I've met you, you've ended up covered in stuff." she said sheepishly.

Faith smiled, "Listen, do you wanna join me for a drink?" she asked. "That is if you promise not to throw it over me."

Buffy hesitated, Riley's previous words of warning echoing in her ears. She considered what could possibly be dangerous about having a drink with a known criminal, granted all she knew about Faith was what Riley had told her. And from her own brief encounters with the brunette, she seemed normal enough. Besides she was just having one drink, it would give her a chance to get to know her better, and if she didn't like what she saw she wouldn't have to see her again. Looking back up at Faith, she couldn't help but smile at the nervous look on the brunettes face. "I mean if you don't want to that's okay." Faith added, giving the blonde the chance to back out of her offer if she wanted.

"No, I would love to." Buffy said smiling at Faith reassuringly. "And I promise I'll try not to spill anything on you." she said.

Faith grinned, "Great, we can stay here if you want, or if you want a change of scenery I know this bar down the street, it's quieter and it'll be easier to talk." she offered.

Buffy looked back at the dance floor and saw Kennedy crawling all over her slut of a girlfriend. Her smile fell slightly as she remembered what she'd had, before she turned to face the gorgeous brunette before her, and realised what she could have was so much better. "Sure that sounds great." she said, smiling happily as she felt the tingles run up her arm, as Faith took her hand and led her towards the exit.

**Tbc.**

**A/N: Am I moving too fast? Too slow? Anyone has any ideas as to where they want the story to go, then let me know cause I'm open to suggestions, as long as you don't say the recycle bin cause that's just evil.**

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	4. Start of something new?

**Author's note: Hi sorry for taking a while to update, but writers block set in. Thanks once again for everyone that took the time to review, I do read them all and I will eventually reply I promise :-) Anyway lets get on with the fic. I've had requests for longer chapters so I've tried my best, hope you guys like it. **

**Disclaimer: I don't own the characters of Buffy and Faith, they belong to Joss.**

**Chapter 4 - Start of something new?**

As they stepped outside the club Buffy couldn't help but wince, as she felt the icy wind cut through her, pulling her small jacket tightly around her she silently cursed herself for not wearing something warmer. She glanced over at the brunette beside her, who was showing no signs of being bothered by the freezing weather, despite the fact that she was also soaked to the skin, courtesy of Buffy's own clumsiness.

Faith caught Buffy looking at her and could feel the small blonde shivering through the contact she had with her hand. Removing her hand from Buffy's, she took off her leather jacket and gently placed it around the small blondes shoulders. "You look like you need this more than me." she said, raising her hand as she saw that Buffy was about to object. "Really it's fine, 'sides my cars just parked round the corner." she said reassuringly.

Buffy smiled sweetly and pulled the jacket tight round her shoulders. "As long as you're sure." she said gently.

"Yeah I'm fine. I'm used to this kinda weather, I've lived here four years now. Plus I'm from Boston and the weather there ain't any better in the winter believe me." Faith said, absently reclaiming her hold on Buffy's hand.

"I still feel bad though." Buffy said, secretly enjoying the warmth she got from Faith's touch. "I mean first I spill beer on you and now I've stolen your jacket." she said smiling softly.

"I know and here's me thinkin you're all innocent." Faith grinned, "Next you'll probably mug me and steal my car."

Buffy laughed, "Damn you figured out my plan, you realise I'll have to kill you now." she said in mock seriousness.

"That's a first, most people don't usually want to kill me till after the second date." Faith grinned.

"So is this the first date?" Buffy asked shyly.

Faith pretended to think it over. "Depends how well it goes." she said mischievously. "I'd say we got the bad part out of the way pretty early on, so from now on things should be good."

They both came to a stop next to what Buffy assumed was Faith's car, and she wasn't surprised to see that it was the black jeep that she'd seen at the coffee shop. She smiled as Faith opened the passenger door and held it open for her. "Thanks." Buffy said, climbing into the jeep, she watched as Faith closed the door and ran round to the drivers side and climbed in.

"Sorry about the mess, my brother borrows the car now and again, and as you can see he's a bit of a slob." she said, gesturing at the empty fast food containers in the back seat.

"It's okay, at least your car works." Buffy said sighing as she remembered that she would have to phone the garage tomorrow. "My car died on me this morning, it's fit for the scrap heap." she said.

Faith started the car and checked behind her before pulling away from the curb. "I could always take a look at it for ya, I know my way around an engine." she offered, glancing over at Buffy before turning her eyes back to the road.

"Really?" Buffy asked hopefully.

"Yeah, my dad used to own a garage in South Boston, I used to help out in my spare time, picked up a few things." she replied, pulling up at the stop light. "That's if you want me to, I mean if you end up havin a shitty time tonight, the last thing you'll want is me harrasin you the next day." Faith said grinning.

"If me spilling beer on you is the worst thing that happens tonight then I think we'll be okay." Buffy said optimistically, causing Faith to laugh, as they pulled away from the stoplight and down Maine Street.

**Meanwhile, Sunset Ridge - Penthouse 10:30pm**

Anthony O'Rielly strolled through the halls of his penthouse, half empty scotch glass in one hand, and T.V remote in the other. As he passed the front door, he nodded towards his bodyguards, who where stood on duty, before making his way through to the den, where he threw himself onto his leather sofa.

Glancing at the clock on the mantel he sighed in frustration as he saw that his nephew was now over an hour late. Michael was supposed to stop by and report on the latest Lehane movements. He'd had his boys stake out the Lehane's pushers and safe houses, so that they could get a lead on their latest deals. So far his plan was working, they knew what the Lehane's had planned before even their own men did. Draining the rest of his scotch, he reached for the bottle on the coffee table. He was about to refill the glass when he heard the front door bell. Knowing that his body guard would get the door, he filled his glass and lay back in the chair, waiting for his nephew to be shown through. When a couple of seconds had passed with no sign of Michael he began to wonder who it was.

"Peter who is it?" he yelled, impatiently.

The bodyguard in question entered the den with a medium sized box in his arms. "It was a delivery truck, this is addressed to you." Peter replied.

Anthony regarded the box suspiciously, as it was placed on the coffee table in front of him. "Is it safe?" he asked.

Peter nodded, "Yes sir, I had the men check it with the metal detector, it didn't show anything." he said confidently.

"Open it." Anthony ordered nodding towards the box. Being the head of a crime family had led him to be cautious. Which was probably the reason why he was still alive today and most of his brothers where dead. Peter pulled a switchblade from his pocket and easily tore through the layers of tape that held the box closed. Anthony watched as Peter cautiously pulled the flaps of the box open, and saw him visibly sigh in relief when nothing exploded. He saw hesitate and nodded for him to continue, waiting patiently as Peter began digging through the layers of Styrofoam.

"Jesus!" Peter exclaimed, his face turning a nasty shade of green as he stumbled away from the box.

"What is it!" Anthony asked, his heart pounding loudly in his ears. Climbing to his feet he approached the box and peered inside. What he saw caused him to cry out in a mixture of grief and disgust. His nephew's head lay in the bottom of the box, his glassy eyes staring up at him. The scene made worse by the words 'You're next' carved deeply in his forehead.

**Mulligan's bar - 12th avenue - 10:45pm**

The two women where currently sat in a corner booth at the back of the pub, which was surprisingly quiet for a Saturday night. As soon as Buffy had entered the pub, she had liked the homely atmosphere of the place. And judging from the reactions of the bar staff, Faith appeared to be a regular. Buffy smiled at the bartender as he brought over their drinks.

"So now I'm guessin this is the time for twenty questions?" Faith asked, causing Buffy to smile. "Do you wanna go first or will I?"

"You go first." Buffy said, taking a sip of her wine.

"Okay, my names Faith Lehane, I'm originally from Boston, which you already know. Moved here bout four years ago with my cousin Johnny and my brother Ritchie. Flunked high school, never even went to college. Me an my brother own a nightclub downtown, where I _occasionally_ help out behind the bar, and nearly every relationship I've had, has ended in disaster." she said. "Think that about covers it. Any questions?" she asked, deliberately leaving out the parts about her life of crime.

"How old are you?" Buffy asked curiously.

"Twenty seven." Faith said, taking a sip of her beer. "What about you? Are you older or younger?"

"Older." Buffy said. "I'm thirty."

"Seriously? Man I would never had guessed that, I thought you where at least in your early twenties." Faith exclaimed, "Suppose looks can be deceiving." she commented.

"So what's the name of your nightclub?" Buffy asked.

"The Cobra Club." Faith said, "You heard of it?"

Buffy shook her head. "No, but I'm still kind of new around here."

Faith grinned sheepishly, "Trust me, it's probably a good thing you ain't heard of it, it's not exactly in a nice part of town. Anyway, enough about me, lets hear about you." she said, quickly steering the conversation away from herself.

Buffy noticed the change in conversation and decided to let it go. "Well, I'm originally from L.A, I moved here eight months ago with my girlfriend, who became my ex, not long after we got here, and I work as a secretary for an accountancy firm downtown." Buffy said, deciding to steer clear of the fact that she was really a detective for the NYPD. Somehow she knew that wouldn't go down too well with the woman across from her.

"That sucks." Faith said, "Not the accountancy bit, the part about your girlfriend -"

Buffy nodded solemnly, for some reason she couldn't get the images of Kennedy dancing in the club, out of her head. Here she was, on a date with a beautiful brunette, and all she could think about was her ex. It looked like Willow was right, she was stuck in the past and she needed to move on, and fast.

" - She obviously didn't know when she was on to a good thing." Faith said, looking at Buffy intently. "She still gets to you doesn't she." Buffy looked at her in surprise, and Faith couldn't help but grin. "I've dated my fair share of losers and although they're bitches, it don't mean that I don't miss them, as much as it pains me to say it." she said with a grimace.

"I know what you mean." Buffy said quietly.

"Okay, let's forget about all this mopey ex business. Today's a new day and a fresh start, you gotta live for the moment and enjoy life while you can, cause you only get one chance."

Buffy grinned, "Unless you're a Buddhist." she added.

Faith shrugged, "Yeah but that's cheating, and side's you might be reincarnated as a cockroach and there ain't no fun to be had there." Faith studied her for a second before raising her beer bottle in a toast. "To finding the fun, and here's hoping that our exes are reincarnated as cockroaches." she said, they both laughed as they clinked their glasses together.

**Sunset ridge - Penthouse. 11:00pm**

The O'Rielly crime lord was currently sat at the table in his office, staring morosely at the picture of his nephew that sat on his desk. Michael had been like a son to him, and now he was dead, and judging from the macabre message, he was soon to follow. He had called his most trusted men to meet him in an hours time. He knew without a doubt that the Lehane's where responsible for this, and if it was war they wanted, then they'd have their fucking war. Anthony O'Rielly wouldn't rest until everyone of those Lehane fuckers where dead and buried. And he planned to start with the people that where closest to Johnny Lehane.

**155 Riverside Drive - 12:36am**

Faith pulled her car up outside Buffy's apartment block and shut off the engine. She smiled as she saw the blonde yawn tiredly. "So this is it." Faith said.

"I had a really great time tonight, thank you." Buffy said softly, staring into Faith's brown eyes.

Faith smiled gently, "Don't mention it, the company helped." she said. She looked down at her feet before looking up at Buffy nervously, "If you want, I was wondering if we'd be able to go out again sometime, except this time on a proper date."

Buffy smiled as she saw Faith fidgeting nervously, and thought it was the cutest thing she'd seen, "Yeah I'd like that." she said, trying not to laugh as she saw Faith visibly sigh in relief. "Do you want to come in for a coffee?" she asked, not wanting to leave the brunettes company just yet.

Faith smiled flashing her dimples, "I'd love to but I'm working in about six hours. And if I'm late my boss will kill me." she said gently. "Literally." she deadpanned.

Buffy nodded in understanding, "Yeah me too." she said, knowing that if she was late again the Chief wouldn't thank her for it. "Work sucks." she said pouting, causing Faith to laugh.

"So does being an adult, but there's good points and bad points for everything. You just gotta know where to look." Faith said.

"What's the good points about work?" Buffy asked.

"Money." Faith replied simply.

"Okay and what's the good points about being an adult." she asked, already knowing where this conversation was heading.

Faith smiled gently "Well there's a couple I can think of." she said, inching closer to Buffy as she spoke. They both slowly leaned towards each other, until their lips where touching, the kiss was soft and tender, as they both explored each other's lips for the first time. Buffy could taste the slight hint of cherry on Faith's lips and the soft tingle she was getting from being so close to the brunette was driving her crazy. Gently breaking the kiss, she forced herself to pull back while she still had some semblance of self control. She laughed softly as she saw the disappointment flash across Faith's face.

"That was a good point." Buffy said.

"A very good point, and I can think of a better one." Faith said huskily. "But I don't have enough time to show you tonight."

Buffy swallowed hard at the look of lust in Faith's eyes, and knew that if she didn't leave soon there would be no way she would make it into work. "Thanks again for tonight." Buffy said softly. "It's the most fun I've had in a long time." she said.

"Me too." Faith said sincerely.

Glancing at the clock on the dashboard, Buffy sighed. "Guess I'd better get going."

Faith nodded reluctantly, "Yeah."

Buffy opened the car door and was about to climb out, when she remembered something. "Seeing as tonight went well, and I didn't have a 'shitty' time, does that mean you're going to fix my car?" she asked slyly.

Faith laughed, "Damn and here's me hoping you'd forgotten." she replied, "But seeing as you where good company, I suppose I might be able to take a look at your car." she said, pretending to think about it.

Buffy raised an eyebrow. "Good company? I think you should rephrase that Miss Lehane." she said teasingly.

"Sorry, excellent company." Faith said. "And an excellent kisser." she said grinning wolfishly, causing Buffy to blush. "When do you want me to come over?" she asked.

"Um, how about tomorrow?" Buffy suggested, trying not to sound too eager.

"I suppose I could make some room in my busy schedule." She said grinning. "What time where you thinkin of?"

"I finish work about two, so anytime after then?" Buffy asked trying not to sound too eager.

"Yeah, no problem." Faith said. "Do you want me to pick you up at work?" She asked.

"No, no it's fine, I'll just meet you here." Buffy said quickly, if Faith found out where she really worked, she would run a mile, and she didn't want anything to jeopardise what could be the start of a good relationship.

"Okay, I'll come round about three. That way it gives you a chance to get in from work." Faith said, smiling softly. "So I guess I'll see you tomorrow." she stated, watching as Buffy climbed out of the jeep.

"I guess so." Buffy said, smiling softly "Night."

"Night." Faith replied, before Buffy shut the car door. She watched as the blonde walked up to the main doors of her apartment building, and waited till she'd disappeared safely inside. After all chivalry was Faith's middle name, that and the fact that Buffy had the nicest ass she'd ever seen. Grinning wickedly to herself she put the car in gear, and screeched off into the night. Hoping that her brother wouldn't find out about her mystery date, if he did she'd never hear the end of it.

**Harbour - Sunday 6:30am**

The two siblings groaned as they carried the crate over to the car, before unceremoniously chucking it into the trunk. "How many kilo's did he say that was?" Ritchie asked, slamming the trunk shut before walking round to the front of the car.

"Can't remember but they where fuckin heavy." Faith exclaimed, climbing into the car. "I'm tellin ya between you and the crates I'm surprised my tyres ain't burst."

Ritchie glared over at her. "Hey, you sayin I'm heavy or something?" he asked incredulously.

Faith raised an eyebrow before shaking her head, "Well your hardly the pin up guy for Slimmer's monthly." she said, starting the car and pulling out of the warehouse car park. "Remember that time you broke my coffee table, when you decided to plant your fat ass on it."

"I ain't got a fat ass!" Ritchie exclaimed.

"No you got a heavy ass!" Faith retorted.

"No I ain't." he said.

"Dude my coffee table says otherwise." Faith said, "You still owe me a new one." she said glaring over at him.

"What the hell do you want a coffee table for, you never put anythin on it." he said. "You never even used it."

"I put fuckin coffee mugs on it, and you put your ass on it, so yeah I guess it did get used." she said sarcastically. "Plus I like to put my feet up when I'm watchin T.V." she exclaimed.

"Why don't I get you a stool or something." Ritchie offered.

"A stool? Man, there's nothin cool about a stool." Faith said, "Stool is another word for shit and that's what they are, shit. I want another coffee table, end of discussion."

"Fine I'll get you you're fuckin coffee table." he mumbled, the car quickly descending into silence.

From the corner of her eye, Faith could see her brother patting his stomach, and pulling on the belt of his trousers. She watched him do this for the next five minutes before curiosity got the best of her. "What the hell are you doin? You got wind or sumthin? Cause if you need to fart you can get the hell outta my car." she said.

Ritchie glanced over at her. "No I ain't got fuckin wind, I'm just checkin out my stomach. Tell me this, if I'm fat how come I've got abs." he said, lifting his shirt and gesturing at his abdomen.

Faith glanced over quickly before turning her attention back to the road, "Those ain't abs they're rolls."

"They're fuckin abs! I ain't fat!" he exclaimed.

"When did I say you where fat!" Faith said, "I said you where heavy there's a difference."

"At least my girl likes me." Ritchie said pouting slightly.

"What girls this, cause I lost count that time you where dating those triplets." Faith said grinning.

"Cordelia." Ritchie murmured.

"What queen C? From the club? Our club?" Faith asked in surprise.

"Yeah, what's wrong with that?" he asked defensively.

"Nothing, it's just I didn't think she was your type, what with her being a stripper and you being a jealous son of a bitch." she said. "Don't get me wrong she's a great girl, but if she was mine I wouldn't want a load of perverted fucks drooling over her every night."

"Yeah, well it's just her job. I know that it doesn't mean anythin and I trust her." he said defensively. "Plus she knows what I do and she ain't scared of who I am." he said quietly. "I mean, you know how hard it is to find a girl that ain't terrified of our line of business."

"Yeah I know." Faith said softly. She understood where her brother was coming from. She knew that if things ever got serious with Buffy, and she hoped they would, she would have to tell her what she really did for a living. And that was something that she dreaded, she couldn't bear the thought of Buffy looking at her in fear and disgust, as she'd pretty had that same reaction from most of the girls she'd dated and it was something she despised. "Telling your girl that you do drugs and kill people for a living ain't exactly pillow talk." she agreed.

Ritchie nodded, before looking at her curiously. "Speakin of girls what's this about you and some blonde chick?"

Faith looked at him in surprise. "How did you know about that?" she asked, putting her foot down on the gas so that she could quickly make it through the stop light.

"Couple of the guys saw you leaving Mulligan's last night, said she looked like a nice piece of ass." he said grinning slyly.

Faith glared over at him. "You better stop thinkin whatever it is you're thinkin!" she exclaimed. "I didn't fuck her, we just talked."

Ritchie looked at her doubtfully and snorted, "Yeah right, I know what you're like sis, fuck first, talk later."

"Believe what you fuckin want, but we just talked and then I dropped her off at home." Faith said defensively.

"Why do I find that hard to believe." he said shaking his head, "You must really like her huh." he said looking at her thoughtfully.

Faith was silent for a few seconds as she thought it over, before nodding slowly, "Yeah, I do." she said quietly. "I mean I only met her yesterday but there's somethin about her you know? When I was with her I forgot all the bad shit." She couldn't help but smile as she remembered her date with the cute blonde.

"Well that's how Cordelia makes me feel." Ritchie said. "What's this chicks name?" he asked.

"Her names Buffy, she works as a secretary for some firm downtown." Faith said, "She moved here from L.A a few months ago, so she could be near her friends."

"Sounds like a nice girl." Ritchie said, he couldn't help but notice how his sisters face lit up when she spoke about her mystery girlfriend. "So you got another date with this Buffy person?"

Faith nodded, "Well I offered to take a look at her car, so I'm gonna drop by and see her when she finishes work."

Ritchie laughed, "Man you've only known this girl a day and you're already whipped." he said, ignoring the glare that his sister sent his way. "Could this be the girl to tame Faith Lehane!" he exclaimed, putting his hand on his chest in mock surprise. "Say it isn't so!"

"Yeah, yeah laugh it up." she said. "But I'm serious man, I really like her and I don't wanna fuck up the relationship before it's even started. I've learnt the hard way, and I'm gonna take things slow with her, I wanna do this right." she said firmly. "An I don't want you stickin your nose in."

Ritchie raised his hands in defence, "Okay I promise I won't do or say anythin to scare this girl off." he said.

Faith sighed, "I might do a good job of that by myself." she said. Before Ritchie could say anything, she brought the car to a stop outside an old fish factory on the outskirts of China town. This was the designated drop of point for the two crates of blow they currently had stashed in the back of the car. Looking around the street she saw that it was nearly deserted, with only a couple of people milling around near the corner, none of them posing an immediate threat. "Okay, coast looks clear, unless that old woman over there has a black belt in Karate or an Uzi hidden in her panty hose, I think we're safe."

"You sure we weren't followed?" Ritchie asked warily, having two crates of highly illegal drugs stashed in your car tended to make you overly cautious.

"Yeah I'm positive." Faith replied, taking off her seatbelt she reached into the back pocket of her jeans and removed a small slip of paper. "Gimmie your cell phone." she said, holding her hand out to Ritchie. Who reluctantly handed over his cell. Quickly dialling the number Johnny had given them, she let it ring out for a couple of seconds before hanging up and tossing it back to her brother. "That'll let them know we're here, now all we gotta do is wait." she said sitting back in her seat, her eyes cautiously sweeping the street, checking for any signs of danger.

Ritchie let out a nervous sigh, and checked his gun for the hundredth time. "I don't like doin these meets." he said anxiously.

Faith nodded slowly, "Me neither, but Johnny trusts us. He knows we won't skip town with the drugs." she said.

"Still I don't see why he can't do it himself. He does fuck all anyway." Ritchie grumbled, shoving his gun into the inside pocket of his jacket. "You know how many close calls we've had, cause of all the dodgy deals he makes us do."

"Too many." Faith sighed. She sat up quickly when she saw movement from inside the factory, "Looks like it's show time." she said, as the service bay doors opened, in silent invitation. "Okay you remember the drill, don't even look at these guys funny or they'll blow your nuts off." she said, shooting her brother a warning glance.

"Don't worry I've been practising my curtsy." he said sarcastically. Rolling her eyes, she silently prayed that her brothers lack of people skills wouldn't get them shot at, again, before she put the car into gear and cautiously drove it up the ramp and into the factory.

**Old Fish Factory - China town. 6:40 am**

When they entered the factory they where greeted by a group of armed Yakuza's, none of them looking very welcoming. The leader of the group, that Faith knew as Koshigaya Bosujima, approached the car and gestured for them to get out. Casting one last warning glance at her brother, Faith did as she was told, and climbed out of the car. She had to admit she was impressed at the ingenuity of the Yakuza's, who where hiding out in Triad territory. The cops couldn't tell the difference between the Japanese and the Chinese gangs, and by hiding out in enemy territory, any trouble that the Yakuza's where involved in could easily be blamed on the Triads. Making them the perfect scapegoats. Faith would have appreciated it more if the O'Rielly's weren't doing the exact same thing with them.

"You have my crates?" Koshigaya asked.

Faith nodded, "Yeah, they're in the trunk." she said, placing the keys in Koshigaya's outstretched hand. She stood back out of the way and watched as koshigaya popped open the trunk ,and four of his henchmen moved forward and removed the two crates. The men drag the crates over to a large table in the middle of the factory floor. One of them removed a crowbar and pried the lids off one of the crates. As soon as the lid fell onto the floor, the men standing around the table began shouting in Japanese.

Glancing anxiously at her brother she saw his face pale and knew that something had gone wrong. Koshigaya pushed the men away from the table and froze as he saw what was in the crate.

Faith felt her heart drop as she saw the reason for all the commotion, the two crates that they'd dragged all the way over here, didn't contain cocaine. They'd been filled with bags of brown sugar.

"WHAT THE FUCK IS THIS!" Koshigaya yelled, spinning to face Faith and Ritchie. "Is this some kind of joke!" he asked holding up a piece of paper that had been tacked onto the bags. The piece of paper had a big smiley face drawn on it. "Where is my cocaine!"

"We don't know, we where just told to bring the crates to you." Faith said calmly, although inside she was reeling. They'd been set up, and of all the places to have it happen, it had to be in the middle of Yakuza HQ, with one of the most ruthless Yakuza gang lords. Her day had just got worse.

Koshigaya growled and gestured to his men, who began advancing towards the two siblings. "Wrong answer, where are my drugs?"

"I told you we don't know." Faith replied. Koshigaya flicked his wrist, and Faith felt the familiar sensation of a gun barrel pressing against the back of her head, before someone grabbed her arms, and began tying them behind her back. Looking over at her brother she saw that he was also being restrained.

"Seeing as you won't give me the answer I want, I will have to resort to other measures." he said. "Take her into the cold room, while I talk to her brother." he ordered.

Faith allowed the men to drag her out of the room, knowing there was no use in resisting. She couldn't see how they where going to get out of this, but if they did she swore that she would make Johnny pay for setting them up. If there was one thing she despised, it was a rat.

**Tbc**

**A/N: Dun Dun Duhhhhh! Sorry thought I would add to the suspense, if there was even any to start with lol.**

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	5. When the going gets tough

**Authors note: I'm really, really, really sorry for taking so long to update. But here we go, better late than never. Hope you guys like the chapter, just so you know it wasn't easy getting Faith out of the predicament, she'd gotten herself into. This chapter begins with a sex scene between two females, if you're uncomfortable with this sort of thing then feel free to skip the chapter :-) or at least the wee bit in italics. **

**Disclaimer: I don't own the characters of Buffy and Faith, they belong to Joss.**

**Chapter 5 - When the going gets tough… (Part one)**

**155 Riverside Drive - Apartment 10C 07:00AM**

_Buffy lay on the soft sheets of her bed, with Faith hovering above her, her breath caught in her throat as she saw the desire and lust in Faith's eyes. She moaned in anticipation as she felt Faith's hands making their way beneath her shirt and up her sides, her own hands pushing their way beneath Faith's top, coming to rest on the smooth skin of her toned stomach._

_Faith's hands slid round to her chest and Buffy arched up into her touch as she cupped her breast in her hand, her other hand caressing it's way down her body as she made her way to her hot centre. She groaned as she felt Faith's hand slip into her panties, as her fingers came into contact with her dripping pussy. Sliding a finger through Buffy's juices, she ran them up over her clit, feeling Buffy's body jump beneath her. With her other hand kneading Buffy's breast, she plunged her fingers deep inside Buffy's centre._

_Buffy's chest heaved as she felt the felt the desire building within her, grabbing Faith by the neck she pulled her down into a passionate kiss, as she felt the waves of the orgasm beginning to wash over her, she opened her eyes and stared into Faith's deep chocolaty gaze. As Faith opened her mouth to speak, Buffy frowned as she started ringing._

Buffy groaned and fumbled blindly for the phone, silently cursing the person on the other end, for interrupting her dream. "Hello?" she croaked, rubbing a hand over her eyes.

"Are you coming down anytime soon, I've already been waiting ten minutes." Riley said, "You do know your working today right?" he asked doubtfully.

"Uh yeah I'm just coming, I'm uh, trying to find my keys." Buffy hurriedly replied, before slamming the phone back into it's cradle and leaping from the bed. "Shit, shit, shit!" she yelled. Running through to the bathroom, she took a quick look in the mirror, and groaned, her hair looked as if it had been dragged through a hedge backwards. Franticly running a brush through it she attempted to save it with the use of a scrunchie and some mousse. Bushing her teeth in record time, she slapped on some make up, and threw on the blouse and pants she'd worn yesterday.

Grabbing her cell and her coat she was heading out the door when she caught sight of the leather jacket lying draped over the back of the couch. She frowned for a second before she realised that she had forgotten to give Faith her jacket back when she'd dropped her off last night. Picking it up, she brought the jacket to her face and inhaled the scent that was pure Faith. Grinning like a mad woman as she remembered her date with the brunette, she found herself looking forward to spending the afternoon with Faith. Shrugging off her own coat, she pulled on Faith's jacket and walked out of the door with a spring in her step, regardless of what may happen at work today, things where beginning to look up for Buffy Summers.

**Meanwhile - Old Fish Factory, China town 07:15AM**

Things weren't looking good for Faith. She found herself being 'escorted' between two large Yakuza goons, towards a large walk in freezer, which unfortunately appeared to be one of the few remaining things that still worked in the factory. Despite her limited knowledge of walk in freezers, Faith had seen enough of them to know that there was no handle on the inside, and freezing to death wasn't exactly at the top of her list of things to do before you reach thirty.

As she neared the freezer she decided now was a better time than any to start struggling. Lifting her foot, she slammed it down onto the foot of the man on her right, feeling the crunch of bone as her heavy boots made short work of his toes, through his canvas shoes. The goon on the left predictably punched her in the face. Deciding to roll with it, she fell dramatically to her knees, just outside the freezer door, feigning unconsciousness.

"Stupid bitch!" She heard the man nearest her say.

"Just throw her in the fucking freezer." The other man spat, "I think she broke my toes." he groaned.

She heard someone approaching her and assumed it was goon number one. Cracking her eye open slightly, she saw him nearing her legs, as he bent down to pick them up, she brought her foot crashing into his face, sending him flying back into the side of the freezer, before slumping to the ground.

Quickly flipping to her feet, she turned to face the second goon, who was looking at her in a mixture of shock and pain. "What the fuck!" he exclaimed, climbing to his feet he stumbled towards her. Waiting till the last minute she sidestepped out of his path and kicked backwards with her foot, catching him on the ass and sending him flying into the open freezer. Before he could pick himself up and charge her again, she threw herself against the freezer door, slamming it shut. Risking a glance at the unconscious man in the corner, she saw that he was out for the count, and sighed in relief. Leaning against the freezer door, she listened to the muffled screams of the man inside, and tried to focus.

She might have managed to dispatch of two yakuza's but her hands where still bound, and she was unarmed. Add to that the fact that there where at least another eight men in the other room with her brother. Which put her at a severe disadvantage. If she wanted to get her brother out alive she would have to use stealth, and it's pretty fucking hard to be stealthy when your hands are tied behind you're back. Banging her head against the freezer, she forced herself to remain calm and think positive, the only thing working in her favour is that she's got the element of surprise.

Walking over to the door to the cold room, she checked the passageway outside to make sure it was clear, before walking into the centre of the room and lying on her side on the floor. Bringing her knees up to her chest, she brought her hands down over her backside, thanking God for giving her a small ass, she began to wiggle it back and forth, causing her hands to slip over it and onto her thighs. Bringing her hands up and over her legs, she grinned as they where now in front of her. Making getting out of here a little easier than before.

Pushing herself to her feet, she approached the prone form of the man in the corner, and searched his pockets. The relief at finding her gun was short lived as she realised that she couldn't fire it without alerting the whole building to her presence. Looking round the room, she saw some cooking utensils in the sink near the door. Climbing to her feet, she shoved her gun down the side of her pants, before making her way to the sink.

Removing the numerous pans and ladles as quietly as she could, she was about to give up hope until she saw the large carving knife lying on the bottom of the sink. "Bingo." she whispered, a small grin creeping its way across her face. Picking up the knife in her right hand, she tested it's weight, before flipping it over and using it to cut at the plastic binding her hands.

**New York Police Department - 07:30AM**

Riley's car screeched into his designated parking bay before jerking to a stop. Shutting off the engine he turned to face his partner who was sitting staring into space with a small smile on her face, as she had been for the whole ride here.

"Take it someone had a good night." he leered.

Buffy spun to look at him in confusion. "What?" she asked.

"Judging from that love sick grin plastered on your face, I'm guessing that you had some action last night." he said.

Buffy frowned and unfastened her seat belt. "If that's your way of asking if I had a date then the answers yes."

"So you didn't get any action then?" he asked waggling his eyebrows.

"Riley…" she sighed in exasperation, silently pleading with him to lay off.

"Okay, okay. Forgive me for being curious, but who was the lucky lady?" he asked, "It must be someone special to put a smile like that on your face."

"She's really is." Buffy said, smiling wistfully, "She was sweet, charming, funny, not to mention hot." she gushed.

Riley laughed, "Looks like someone's got the love bug. I'm happy for you Buffy, you deserve some happiness, God knows you've been put through the ringer by that bitch of an ex." he commented. "So when do I get to meet this new chick of yours?" he asked, climbing out of the car.

Buffy grimaced knowing that this wasn't going to go down well, "You sort of all ready have." she said, getting out of the car and slamming the door behind her. Facing Riley over the roof of the car, she saw the confusion on his face.

"I have?" he asked, his hand frozen on the door. "When?"

"In the coffee shop." she said, suddenly finding a glob of bird poo on the car window interesting to look at.

"The coffee shop? But the only person we saw in the coffee shop was…." his voice trailed off as realisation sunk in. "Tell me it isn't her?" he asked, Buffy's lowered gaze was answer enough. "Buffy, how could you after everything I said! She's a fucking criminal and you're a cop!" he exclaimed, slamming the car door. "Did you even tell her that!"

Buffy looked up at him, meeting his gaze. "Yes." she said, the lie easily slipping off her tongue. "You don't know her Riley, the woman I saw last night wasn't a hardened criminal, she was kind and caring -"

Riley scoffed, "It was an act, the woman's a psychopath." he said ignoring the icy glare he received from his partner. "I'm not telling you this stuff to hurt you, I'm telling you because it's the truth and I don't want to see you get hurt." he said.

"I won't get hurt, I know what I'm doing." she said defiantly.

"Do you? You've only known her a day, you don't know what's she's capable of. Have you even thought what will happen to you once the chief finds out?" he asked.

Buffy looked at him unflinchingly. "He doesn't have to know." she said, "Not if you don't tell him. I'm not stupid Riley, if there is any hint of violence from her, or anything that seems dodgy and illegal, I'll leave her." she said firmly. "But the way I feel about her, I've never felt this way about anyone."

Riley studied her closely, he could see the truth in her words, and although he knew that she could handle herself, he wanted her to see what Faith Lehane was really like. "I won't tell the chief." he said quietly. "This stays between us at the moment, but before you go leaping into this relationship with your eyes closed there's something I want you to take a look at." he said.

"Thank you." Buffy said sincerely.

Riley nodded grimly "Thank me later, you might not like what I have to show you." he said, locking the car, he turned and headed into the precinct, with Buffy following silently behind him.

**China town - Old Fish factory 07:35AM**

Faith was currently stalking down the corridor towards the main loading area of the warehouse, with her carving knife held tightly in her right hand, her other held a large metal rolling pin, which she figured would come in handy for braining anyone stupid enough to get in her way.

As she neared the end of the corridor she could hear the muffled voice of Koshigaya, which was closely accompanied by a scream of agony, undoubtedly belonging to her brother. Gripping her weapons tightly, she stopped at the doorway, and cautiously peered wound the corner. She found herself on a second floor platform, overlooking the loading area below, where Ritchie was being 'interrogated'. The platform ran round the length of the warehouse, a quick glance to her left and right showed that there where two yakuza henchmen standing on either side of the platform, judging from the uzi's they where holding, she assumed they where there to watch over the main door's below.

Debating which side to go to first, she decided to take out the man on the right, as the packing crates would provide enough cover for her to reach him without being seen by anyone below her, or by the man on the left. Staying close to the wall, she tried to block out the sounds coming from below, knowing that she couldn't afford any distractions. Making her way to the packing crates, she soundlessly moved between them, gradually positioning herself behind him. When she was as close as she dared, she reached out and grabbed him, holding the knife against his throat. However before she could finish him off, the man on the opposite platform opened his mouth to shout a warning. Without thinking Faith grabbed the gun from the captive man in her arms and shot him in the head. The sound of the gunshot reverberated round the warehouse, drawing the attention of everyone. Pressing the knife firmly against her captive's neck she pulled him back with her into the shadows.

"What the hell is going on up there?!" Koshigaya yelled, Faith could see him squinting up at the platform, and realised she couldn't be seen for the shadows round the walls.

"Tell him you where shooting at a rat." she whispered, pressing the knife harder against the henchman's neck, smirking as she heard him gulping in fear. "And don't try nothing fancy or I'll kill you where you stand." she hissed.

The man nodded weakly before clearing his throat, "I- I thought I saw something but it w-was a rat." he stammered, his voice wavering.

"A rat?" Koshigaya asked in disbelief, "I don't pay you to shoot at fucking rats, I pay you to stand there and keep an eye on the door. If that gun goes off again I will personally put a bullet in your head understood!" he yelled.

Faith shook the man when he failed to reply. "Answer him." she hissed.

"Y-yes boss." the man replied.

She watched as Koshigaya threw one last glare in their general direction before turning his attention back to the interrogation of her brother. Certain that she was no longer being watched, she led her captive towards the packing crates. "Thanks for you cooperation." she whispered, before spinning him round and plunging the knife into his chest. His eyes gaped open in shock and agony before he fell to his knees. Quietly lowering him to the ground, she wiped her knife clean on his pants, before removing his Uzi and throwing it over her shoulder. Peering over the railing she took stock of the scene below. Ritchie was tied to a chair in the middle of the loading bay. From what she could make out, there where at least another five Yakuza gang members, not including Koshigaya himself. "Two down six to go." she sighed, climbing to her feet, she quietly made her way back round the platform, heading for the stairs that would take her to the lower level.

On reaching the bottom of the stairs, Faith realised two things, the first one being that the only place for her to hide was under the stairs. The second one being that once she was under the stairs, she couldn't do a whole lot of good, seeing as she couldn't get a clear shot of all the men in the room.

Deciding to scrap the idea of using stealth, she decided to do what she does best and charge in with guns, blazing. At the moment the only person that could see her was Ritchie, as the rest of the men either had their backs to her, or where too engrossed in watching Koshigaya perfect his torture technique.

Quickly assessing the situation, she saw that the henchmen seemed to be dotted round the room, the only man nearest her brother was Koshigaya himself. The rest where an even distance away, meaning that if she took them out quick enough, by the time they realised what was going on they'd be dead or dying.

Grabbing the knife from her belt, and trusting her instincts, she threw across the room at Koshigaya, he crumpled to the ground with a muffled thump, as the knife embedded it self in the back of his neck. Grabbing the Uzi from her shoulder, she opened fire on the men around the room, taking of them down, before they could unholster their guns.

"Faith look out!" She heard Ritchie's shout of warning a second too late, as she felt a sharp pain explode in her shoulder, jerking her forward, and causing her to drop the Uzi. Without hesitating, she grabbed her handgun from the back of her pants, and fired two rounds into the man, that had come out from behind her car. She watched his body fall to the ground, before raising a shaking hand to her shoulder, blood had flowed thick and fast, her white wife beater, turning red as it became saturated.

"Fai, untie me." Ritchie ordered, his voice hoarse from screaming. Faith looked over at her brother and nodded numbly, before stumbling over to his side. She knelt before him, and tried to untie the rope binding his feet to the chair, but her hands where slick with blood.

"Shit." She cursed, looking around, she saw what she wanted. Forcing herself to her feet, she stumbled over to Koshigaya's body and pulled the carving knife from his neck. Making her way back over to Ritchie, she cut the rope holding his legs, before moving to the back of the chair to free his hands, what she saw when she got behind him, caused her to cry out.

"Jesus man, you're hand." she said, her voice shaking.

Ritchie gulped audibly, "H-How bad is it?" he asked.

Faith shook her head, "It's bad Ritch." she said gently placing her hand over his own, she quickly cut the rope away, allowing him to see the damage for himself.

"Aww fuck!" he cried, cradling his hand against his chest, "My fingers, he cut off my fucking fingers!" he exclaimed. On his right hand, only bloody stumps remained, where his index and middle finger used to be. He looked up at her desperately, "Where are they, maybe a doctor could put em back on or something."

Faith looked round, but couldn't see the severed digits anywhere, "It's too late man, we gotta get outta here, the cops could show up any minute." she said, "We gotta get to a hospital, I don't feel too good." she said, shaking her head as a feeling of light-headedness washed over her.

Ritchie looked at his sister, and saw the pool of blood gathering at her feet. "Shit Fai." he cursed.

His words where the last thing she heard as she suddenly felt herself falling, then all she knew was darkness.

**Tbc. **

**Author's note: I know I'm evil : ) but I'm not going to apologise he he. **

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	6. The tough get going

**Author's note: Didn't realise how long it's been since I last updated, I'm so sorry for leaving you guys hanging. I was tempted to stop writing this fic as real life's been hectic and a severe case of writers block meant I really didn't know where to go with this. After watching every series of the sopranos that I could lay my hands on, I've finally managed to regain some inspiration. So here's part two. Hopefully you won't have to wait quite as long for the next chapter.**

**Disclaimer: The characters of Buffy and Faith belong to Joss, Ritchie's mine lol.**

**Chapter 6 …The tough get going (Part two)**

**Police precinct - 8:00AM**

Buffy threw her cell onto her desk and sat down in the chair as she waited for Riley, wondering just what it was that he wanted to show her. Looking round the investigation room, she saw that it was a hive of activity. She caught something about an explosion in China town, but before she could gather anymore information her partner reappeared.

"Here." Riley stated, tossing a file onto the desk in front of her.

"What's this?" she asked, turning the file round to face her so she could read the information on the front.

"It's you're potential honey's criminal record, every crime she has committed or had suspected involvement with, is in that file." he said, "Let's just say it makes for interesting reading."

"Why are you showing me this?" Buffy asked, suspiciously.

Riley shrugged, "As I said earlier I'm just looking out for you." he said, shooting her a meaningful glance before heading over to his station. She watched him go, before turning back to the file that was staring at her ominously. Hesitantly reaching her hand out, she pulled the file towards her, and flipped it open. The noise around her fading away as she began to read.

**Liberty Hospital NYC - 8:30AM**

Ritchie peeled up to the main doors of the hospital, as if the devil himself was after him. Leaping from the car, he ran round to the other side and flung open the passenger door. Gathering his sisters prone form into his arms, he ran through the sliding doors into the E.R.

Ignoring the mummers and gasps of the other patients as they took in his appearance, he ran to the main reception desk, "My sisters been shot, she needs help!" he yelled, startling the receptionist, whose face paled when she saw the blood covering the two newcomers. "She needs a doctor!"

"Uh…of c-course." she stammered, getting up from her desk and rushing to one of the examination rooms. Seconds later she reappeared, closely flanked by two doctors.

"Bring her through here." The redheaded doctor ordered, opening a door, which said trauma room 2. Ritchie followed them, and gently lay Faith in the examination table in the middle. He looked over at the door as three more people in scrubs entered the room.

"What happened?" The doctor asked gently, looking up at him, while one of the nurses began cutting off his sisters top.

"We, uh, we got attacked, s-someone shot her." he stammered, trying not to completely freak out and reveal what really happened. The last thing they needed was cops sniffing around.

"What's her name?" The redheaded doctor asked.

"Anne Spencer." Ritchie replied, remembering to use the alias that he and Faith had come up with, should they ever be hospitalised. Which appeared to be a regular occurrence as of late.

"Is she allergic to anything?" She asked.

"Uh, s-she's allergic to Morphine." Ritchie said, watching in shock as the trauma team tended to his sister. "Please, just help her." he pleaded quietly.

The redheaded doctor looked up at him compassionately, and it was then she noticed the blood coating Ritchie's hand, and creating a large puddle on the floor. "Are you injured?" she asked in concern.

Ritchie looked down at his hand in realisation, he'd forgotten about his own injury, in his haste to save his sister. "Y-yeah. My hand." he stammered, looking at the bloody mess covering his hand and the floor as if for the first time. He tried to think of a reasonable excuse as to why his hand was a mutilated mess, but all rational thought had fled as blood loss and shock finally caught up to him and he fell face first into blissful oblivion.

**Police precinct - 09:00AM**

As Buffy flicked through the file ,she found herself wondering if Riley had given her an A-Z encyclopaedia of crime. The further through the file she read the more she'd wished she'd heeded Riley's advice.

Faith had committed her first crime of arson at the tender age of twelve, which was shortly followed by numerous accounts of theft and a case of grand theft auto at the age of fourteen. She been in and out of countless young offenders institutions throughout her teenage years. Serving a maxim mum of twelve months for death by dangerous driving before somehow managing to have been let off due to diminished responsibility.

As an adult she'd served time for assault, possession of class C drugs. She had suspected involvement with a drug trafficking group, although due to no solid evidence the case had been thrown out. The list of crimes was endless, however either due to luck or a good lawyer, the brunette had managed to avoid jail for the majority of her crimes. The police had never seemed to be able to pin her with any concrete evidence.

"Buffy c'mon the chief wants us to head down to china town, see if we can find any witnesses to the explosion." Riley said, peering over the top of the screen.

"Okay, sure." she said absently, closing the file she grabbed her coat and followed her partner. All the while thinking of the enigma that was Faith Lehane, and wondering what trouble the woman was getting herself into.

**Liberty Hospital NYC 14:00PM**

An annoying beeping sound woke Ritchie from the comforting embrace of sleep. Blinking his eyes open, he immediately grunted as a sharp pain shot through his head due to the harshness of the artificial lighting. After a few seconds he tried again, allowing his eyes to adjust. Feeling someone squeezing his good hand he looked over and was surprised to see his girlfriend sitting at his bedside.

"Hey you big dope." Cordelia said softly.

"Cordy?" he stated in disbelief. "How did you know I was here?"

"I'm listed as 'Robert Spencer's' next of kin, that's why I'm here." she said. "Next time you pick a pseudonym let me help you, cause you sure as hell don't look like a Robert." she exclaimed,

causing Ritchie to grin sheepishly,

"Sorry, it was a spur of the moment thing." he explained, his grin disappearing as he remembered his sister, "Shit where's Faith? Have they said how she is?" he asked anxiously.

Cordelia sighed and shook her head, "She's still in theatre, and the doctor's won't tell me anything, not when I'm still dressed as a hooker anyway." she said gesturing at her skimpy outfit, "I came straight from work." she explained. "What the hell happened to you two?" Cordelia asked in concern.

Ritchie sighed, "We where doin a delivery for Johnny-" he started to explain before he was cut off by his girlfriend.

"I fucking knew it!" she exclaimed, "He always makes you two do his dirty work, and I'm fed up with it Ritchie. How many more times are you gonna get hurt because of him!"

"You think I like doin what he tells us to do!" he exclaimed angrily, "Fuck we where lucky to get out of there alive, we almost didn't! Johnny fuckin set us up!" he exclaimed. "That warehouse was full of Yakuza's and they where all gunning for us."

"What?!" Cordelia exclaimed, "I know Johnny's a twisted bastard, but you and Faith are his family. "Even he wouldn't be sick enough to set you up."

Ritchie shook his head grimly, "Fucking believe it." he muttered, "Next time I see him he's a dead man."

Cordelia placed her hand over Ritchie's uninjured hand and squeezed it gently. "Not if I get him first baby." she said seriously.

Ritchie smiled sadly, and was about to say that he didn't want her involved, when someone knocked on the door to his room. Looking up he wasn't surprised to see the red headed doctor from earlier on.

"Mr Spencer, I'm Doctor Willow Rosenberg." The red headed doctor said, introducing herself to the couple.

"I came to inform you that your sister is out of theatre, the operation to remove the bullet was a success. She's currently in the recovery area until she comes round from the anaesthetic, and then we'll move her up to one of the surgical wards."

"So she's going to be okay?" he asked anxiously.

"She had severe blood loss, and required several blood transfusions. She was lucky that the bullet only nicked an artery, an inch to the left and she wouldn't have made it." she said seriously. "There is a possibility that she may need physiotherapy on her shoulder once the gunshot wound has healed, but we won't know the full extent of the damage until she comes round." Willow explained.

"Can I see her?" he asked.

"I'm afraid you'll have to wait until she's regained consciousness, once she's been moved upstairs I'll send one of the nurses to inform you." She replied, smiling gently.

Ritchie nodded gratefully, "Okay, thank you doctor."

"Your welcome. I'll be in shortly with the necessary paperwork needed for your release, and I'll run through the medication you'll have to take. After that you're free to leave." Willow said gently, smiling at the couple before leaving the room.

Ritchie let out the breath he didn't realise he was holding, and lay his head back against the pillow. He absently felt Cordelia, squeezing his hand, but that didn't register. All he could think about was how close they had come this morning, and how he was going to make Johnny pay.

**SecuriKorp Security Company - 14:45pm **

Johnny Lehane sat in his office staring slack jawed at the television. The images of a burning warehouse in China town flashing across the screen and refusing to register in his brain.

"WHAT THE FUCK HAVE THOSE TWO DONE NOW!!" He screamed suddenly, hurling the remote at the television, not flinching as the screen exploded in a shower of sparks. "I send them to deliver two crates, TWO FUCKING CRATES!!! And they manage to wipe our Yakuza contacts of the face of the earth!!!"

The other men in the room winced as he picked his chair up and threw it cross the room, shattering his expensive glass bookcase. Johnny whirled on them panting in barely suppressed rage. "I want you to find, Faith and Ritchie and bring them to me." He ordered coldly. "I want them to explain how they hell they managed to turn a simple drop off, into the biggest balls up in history."

"Y-yes sir." The men stammered, hurriedly leaving the room.

Johnny sighed and grasped at his hair, as he paced up and down his office. His mind whirling as to how this could have happened. Of course he realised now, that as well as having the O'Rielly's on his back, he'd now have to deal with several vengeance seeking Yakuza's. "Fuck could this day get any worse!!" He cried, throwing his head back. In response his cell phone rang ominously from beneath the mountain of paperwork on his desk.

Throwing the papers out of the way, he scrambled to answer it before the caller hung up. "Hello?" he snapped.

"Hello Johnny." A voice replied, "Is that any way to talk to an old friend."

Johnny frowned. "Anthony? What the fuck do you want?"

"I take it you've seen the news." Anthony replied, a hint of a smile easily detectable in his voice. "Dreadful shame about the Yakuza's. How are your cousins did they make the drop off?" he asked.

Johnny's eyes widened in realisation, "You knew about that?"

"You took my nephew, Johnny. Why shouldn't I take you're empire." Anthony responded. "The Yakuza's where just the start, how do you think you're cousins are going to feel, they're bound to think that you've set them up. How will the almighty Lehane clan expect to destroy the O'Rielly's when they're too busy destroying themselves." He spat.

Johnny growled and threw his cell phone across the room. "Shit, shit, shit, shit!!!" He yelled. Grabbing his coat and his car keys, he ran from the office. He needed to find his cousins and fast.

**Liberty Hospital NYC - 15:30PM**

Ritchie and Cordelia quietly entered the room where Faith was being kept. They'd expected to find her sleeping, but where surprised to see her sitting propped up in bed. A bag of fluid ran into an I.V in her hand, and Ritchie could just make out the bandages covering her chest.

"Hey sis." Ritchie said softly, "How you feelin?" he asked in concern.

"Like I got shot." Faith croaked, grinning sardonically. "Apart from that I'm peachy." She cleared her throat, and he noticed the change in her demeanour. "How's your hand?" she asked seriously.

"Throbbin like a bitch." he said, casting his eyes down to his heavily bandaged hand. "Looks like I'll have to start learning how to write and shoot with my left hand." he said.

"Least it'll keep him out of trouble for a while." Cordelia said, smiling sadly. "I just wanted to say thanks Faith. You know… for getting him out of there." she said, squeezing Faith's uninjured shoulder gently.

"No problem Queen C, you know I'd do anythin for my big bro. Besides us Lehane's have to stick together." she said, neither Cordelia or Ritchie missed the hidden meaning in her words.

"Yeah." Ritchie said quietly. "We'll get him back for this Fai." he said grimly. "There ain't no way in hell he's gonna get away with what he's done."

"I know Ritch, but first we gotta make sure that he's the one that set us up." she said, ignoring Ritchie's snort of disbelief she continued. "We don't wanna jump to conclusions, we've lost too many members of this family by doing jus that. Don't get me wrong I wanna kill the bastard as much as you, but we've gotta make sure he's a rat first."

Ritchie nodded reluctantly. "Okay I'll hold off for now, at least until you're better. Then I'll go round and smack his ass." he grumbled.

Faith grinned, "That's what I like to hear. So you getting out tonight huh." she commented, seeing him dressed in his tattered clothes.

"Yeah, they wanted to keep me in overnight, but there ain't no way I'm spending a night in this place. Besides it's just my hand, I've had worse." he said nonchalantly, although both she and Cordelia could hear the pain in his voice. She knew her brother had a long road ahead of him, with his hand out of action he was practically defenceless, unable to use his gun, which was never a good thing in their line of business.

"I hear ya." she said, "Wish I was the one getting out of this joint, but it looks like I'm gonna be here for at least a couple more days, if I'm lucky." she sighed, looking around her in disdain.

"And if you behave yourself." Cordelia added.

"At least you can check out the hot nurses." Ritchie said, grinning mischievously, feigning hurt as Cordelia immediately slapped him on the arm.

"Good thing you're coming home with me mister." She said playfully, before turning back to Faith. "And you _better_ behave yourself missy, or you'll have me to deal with." she said waving her finger at Faith.

"Yes ma'am." Faith grinned sheepishly. "Listen C, do you mind if I talk to Ritchie in private, it'll jus be for a sec." she asked.

Cordelia sensing the change in atmosphere, gave her consent. "Sure, no problem." she said, turning to Ritchie, "I'll just be outside when you're ready."

They both watched as she left the room, before looking at each other. The silence in the room was palpable, before Faith was the first to break it. "What alias did you give?" she asked.

"Spencer." He replied, coming to sit on the edge of her bed. "That was a close fucking call back there sis." he said, running a hand through her hair.

Faith sighed, "Tell me about it. I've had enough of this shit Ritchie. I'm only fuckin twenty seven and I've been shot at and blown to shit, enough to las me a life time."

"How do you think I feel, I'm older than you." he said smiling sadly.

"How did we get outta there?" she asked, referring to the factory.

"Took you're car, and hightailed it outta there." he replied, "But not before blowing that place to shit. Hopefully we left nothin incriminatin, but I wasn't too concerned bout that at the time. My main concern was makin sure you where okay." he said.

"The fire should of destroyed anythin we left behind." Faith said confidently.

"Yeah like my fingers." Ritchie snapped, looking at his hand in disgust.

"Ritch, don't talk like that ok." Faith said softly. "We'll get these fuckers back, I swear if johnny is the rat, then I'll let you do more than cut his fuckin fingers off."

"I wanna take him down Fai, his whole empire. I want him to see everything he's worked for in ruins, before I kill the bastard." He spat clenching his good fist

"Me too bro, but it's gonna take more than us two to do that. We need to get the old gang back together." Faith said.

"They still in Southie?" Ritchie asked.

Faith nodded, "I know Billy is, think Liam's still round that area. After that shit went down with the O'Reilly's some of the guys headed over to the West coast. But I've still got contacts in Boston, shouldn't take too long to arrange a meeting." she said, her voice beginning to slur as the days events caught up with her.

Ritchie nodded thoughtfully, "I'll phone round and see what I can find out, meanwhile you need to get some rest, and take things easy." he said. "I need you back on your feet as soon as Fai."

"Don't worry, I'll be up and about in no time." She said, her eyelids starting to droop as she fought to stay awake.

Ritchie laughed gently. "Sleep sis, I'll come visit in the morning." he said standing up from the bed. Just as he was about to leave Faith grabbed his arm.

"Shit, almos forgot bout Buffy." she said forcing her eyes open, "Was suppose to meet her." she slurred.

"Hell you ain't goin anywhere in that condition, is her number in your cell?" he asked, seeing Faith nod tiredly in reply. "Ok, I'll phone her and tell her somethin's come up, so you'll be out of town for a few days. Should give you enough time to get back on your feet." he said. "Now sleep." he ordered.

"Bossy fucker." Faith mumbled, her eyes dropping closed as she surrendered to sleep.

Shaking his head in amusement, he leaned forward and gently brushed his lips against her forehead before quietly leaving the room.

**Tbc. **

**A/N: Sorry to end it there but the next chap will continue directly on from this one :-) As you could tell from reading this chap I know NOTHING about American law, or any law to be honest so take anything I've said with a pinch of salt and don't flame me please :-(**

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	7. Crossed Wires?

**Author's note: Hi everyone, thanks for the reviews. I'm glad you're all still with me after the huge break lol. Here's the next chapter, hope you like it :-) And I'm sorry this chapters so short.**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing, the characters of Faith and Buffy belong to Joss Whedon.**

**Chapter 7 - Crossed Wires?**

**Police precinct 16:00 pm **

Buffy groaned as she threw herself into her chair, she'd spent all afternoon scouring Chinatown, trying to find evidence that would link either the Lehane's or O'Reilly's to the blast that had conveniently wiped out a fraction of a Yakuza gang. Who they hadn't even known had existed until, they'd sifted through what remains they could find. They'd have to wait for the autopsy reports, but what bodies they'd found had died as a result of gunshot wounds, and the blast had managed to destroy any evidence that could implement anybody. Another convenient dead end.

Glancing at her watch, she found it odd that she hadn't heard anything from Faith, she was after all an hour late for their supposed 'date', not that she would have felt up to meeting with her, not while her thoughts where revolving around what she'd read in her file. Not to mention the glances that Riley had been shooting her at every opportunity. Part of her was grateful to her partner for letting her know what she could be involving herself in, whereas the other half of her wanted to curse him for destroying the first good thing that had happened to her in a long time.

The chirpy tone of her cell phone, caused her to jump, looking at the screen she saw it was a number she didn't recognise. She debated over whether to answer or not, when curiosity finally got the better of her.

"Hello?" She answered hesitantly.

"Hi, is this Buffy?" A male voice replied.

"Yes, whose this." She asked curiously, not recognising the voice.

"I'm Ritchie, Faith's brother. I'm just callin to let you know that Faith's sorry but she ain't gonna be able to come over today, she had to go back to Boston to visit our ma. She's not feelin too good, so Faith's headed over to help her out for a few days." he explained.

"Oh, right." Buffy said, feeling guilty as she realised she was relieved at the prospect of not having to see the brunette. At least not while her head was all over the place. "I'm sorry to hear about you're mom, I hope she feels better soon, and tell Faith to phone when she's ready."

"Thanks, I'll let her know." Ritchie said.

It was only as she ended the call that she realised something. According to Faith's file, her mother had been dead for fifteen years. Suddenly she didn't feel quite as guilty.

**Meanwhile **

Taking the stairs to Faith's apartment block two at a time, Johnny found himself praying that Faith would be in. If he could find at least one of his cousin's and explain that he had nothing to do with the set up. Then he knew he would have a good chance of seeing the end of the week.

"Faith!" he yelled, pounding franticly on the door to her apartment. "Faith c'mon if you're in there open up. I need to talk to you." he pleaded. Silence greeted him, which only served to fuel his anxiety. "For fuck's sake open the goddamn door!!" he yelled.

He heard someone clearing their throat, and turned to see an old woman glaring at him, cigarette dangling from her lips

"What the fuck are you looking at?!" he spat.

The old woman stared at him unfazed, "You can bang on that door, and scream until you're red in the face, but you'll be wasting you're time." she said calmly.

"What do you mean?" he asked impatiently.

"She's not in, she left this morning. Hasn't been back since." she replied.

"How do you know she ain't been back?" he asked.

"Told me to look after, Kadoo. The damn dogs been in my apartment all day." she said, nonchalantly flicking ash onto the carpet.

Johnny frowned, "Shit." he mumbled. "Alight look if you see her tell her there's been a misunderstanding, and get her to call me." he said.

"You want me to stick a brush up my ass, and sweep the floor while I'm at it." the old woman snapped.

"Would you just fucking tell her, please." he said, exasperated.

"Fine, now get lost I'm trying to watch my soaps." she said, retreating back into her apartment and slamming the door in his face.

"Fucking coffin dodger." he mumbled, stomping down the stairs. So if his cousin wasn't at home, and she wasn't at her brothers, there was only one other place she could be. "The Titty bar."

**3rd Avenue Apartment 6C - 17:00**

Ritchie had been standing in Cordelia's kitchen for the past ten minutes, trying to figure out how to open a beer bottle with one hand. He was at the stage where he was tempted to smash the neck of the bottle, just so that he could open the fucking thing and get a much needed drink.

Grabbing the bottle, he smashed the neck of it against the kitchen unit, however in his frustration he ended up shattering the whole bottle. Ending up with a palm full of beer and glass. "FUCK!" He yelled, throwing the remains of the bottle across the kitchen.

"What the hell's going on in here?" Cordelia exclaimed, rushing into the kitchen she came to a halt when she saw the glass and beer covering the floor.

"I'm jus getting a drink." Ritchie said, grabbing a cloth from the work top, he knelt down and started cleaning up the mess.

Cordelia sighed, and laid a hand on his back. "Let me get that, you go and sit down." she said softly.

"I can take care of it." he said firmly.

"I know you can, but you've had a long day, now give me the cloth and I'll get you you're beer." she replied, holding her hand out to him.

Ritchie debated whether or not to disagree with her, but he knew that when she put her mind to something, Cordelia could be pretty persuasive, and the last thing he wanted was a fight. "Fine." he grunted, handing her the cloth.

Cordelia took a beer from the fridge and opened it for him, before ushering him out of the kitchen. Ritchie plodded into the living room, and threw himself into his chair, grabbing the bottle of pain killers the doctor given him, he took two and downed them with his beer. He debated whether to take a line of coke, but quickly decided against it, he'd need a clear head for what he was about to do next.

Lifting up the arm of his chair, he reached into the compartment and pulled out a small black notebook. Flicking through he easily found the name he needed, he could only hope that Liam was still using the same number.

**Cobra Club 17:45 pm**

"Harris, get you're slimy ass over here." Johnny ordered, watching in amusement as the one eyed barman stumbled as he tried to negotiate his way around the topless barmaids, without accidentally brushing against anything.

"J-Johnny, what can I do for you." he stammered, smiling anxiously at the mob boss stood before him.

"I'm looking for my cousins. They been in here?" Johnny asked, "And don't lie to me, or I'll do the same thing to your other eye."

"They haven't been in here Johnny, honest." Xander stammered, holding his hands up defensively as Johnny grabbed him by the front of his shirt, and pulled him over the bar. "I swear, please." he pleaded.

"If you don't tell me something useful, I swear to God -"

"- Ritchie's girl, C-Cordelia left here pretty quick, a-after someone called her." Xander stammered.

Johnny released his grip slightly, "Cordelia? Where's this chick live?" he asked.

"I can get you her address." Xander said, sighing in relief as Johnny released his hold and pushed him away.

"Well hurry the fuck up about it, I don't have all day." he shouted, grinning as he watched Xander scurry away. Pointing to one of the barmaids, he motioned for her to come over. "Get me a Jack, no ice." he said, grinning wolfishly.

He watched the barmaid appreciatively as she poured his drink, before looking round the club. Faith and Ritchie certainly had a good thing going. The club was full of a modest amount of patrons, considering how early in the day it was. He could only imagine how busy it would get at the weekend. Hearing a clatter, he saw Xander Harris hurriedly making his way over to him. Johnny couldn't help but wonder why his cousins had decided to give the idiot a job in the first place, this guy was the last person you would hire to work in a titty bar.

"H-Here's the address." he said, handing him a slip of paper.

Johnny took the paper without looking and put it into his jacket pocket, taking his drink from the barmaid he downed it, and stood up from the bar. "Thanks, put that on my tab." he said pointing to the empty glass.

Xander watched him leave the club, wisely deciding not to press him for money for the drink. Once he was sure that Johnny had left, he quickly moved behind the bar.

"What are you doing?" The barmaid asked curiously.

"Giving Queen C a heads up." Xander said. "Promised Ritchie and Faith I'd look out for the girls here and that's what I'm doing." he said, listening to the phone ringing and praying that she'd pick up.

**Tbc. **

**A/N: Might be a wee while before the next update for this fic. Not as long as the last update though, so don't worry lol. I want to get the next chapter of Carnage up, and I've written half of it. I'm determined to finish both these fics, nothing worse than reading a fic and it gets cancelled halfway through. **

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